Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1887-01-29

il
yourself to SEQ mo to the door dare say
! shan't tumble down stairs, and if do, there's
'the porter in the hall to pick me up again.
Enviabls porter as fat as butter, and as idle
asa pig! Au revoir an revoir' Re kissed
his hand and drifted feebly out Of the room.
Sweetsir, one might say, in a state Of eclipse;
IA4but still the serviceable Sweetsir who was
never consulted in vain by the fortunate
people privileged to call him friend
SIS he really ILL., do you tLilkl' Mr.. Troy
asked.
"My nephew has turned fifty Lady
Iydiard answered ''and he persists in living
diff he were young man. Every now and
then Nature says to him, Felix, you are
1 eldr And Felix goes to bed, and says it's
a Ills nervesn
81 suppose he is TO be trusted TO keep his
|. word about writing to PARISH pursued the
lawyer
"Oh, yes, He may delay doing it, but he
A will do it. In spite of his lacladaisical man
likr, he has moments of energy that would
surprise you. Tia .ng of surprises, have
something to tell you about Moody. Within
the last day or two there has been marked
change in him cha lge for the worse"
''You astonish me, Lady Lydiard. In
what way has Moody deterioratedT
''You shall hear Yesterday was Friday.
You took him out with you, on business
early in the morning.
Mr.. Troy bowed, and said nothing. He
Fhad not thought it desirable to mention the
Interview at which Old Sharon had cheated
him out Of his guinea.
an the course of the afternoon" pursued
Lady Lydiard, 81 happened to want him,
and was informed that Moody had gone
out again. Where had he gone! Nobody
anew Had he left word when he would be
back9 He had left no message of any sort.
OF course he is not in the position OF an or
binary servant. don't expect him to ask
permission to go out, but do expect him to
leave word dow, stairs of the time at which
he is likely to return. When he did come
Mack, after an absence Of some hours,
II naturally asked for an explanation. Would
you believe itl he simply informed me that
he had been away on business of his own, ex-
pressed no regret, and offered no explana-
J tion--in short, spoke as if he were an indie
Andent gentleman. You may not think it,
Adt kept my temper. l merely remarked
that hoped it would not happen again He
made me tow and he said: My business
is not completed yet, my lady. | cannot
guarantee that it may not call me away
again at a moments notice. What do you
think of that9 Nine people out of ten would
have given him warning to leave their ser
vice. l begin to think / am wonderful
woman; os.ssy Sninted to the door. One doe
hear sometimes of mems brains softening il
the most unexpected manner ! have my
suspicious of Mcoay's brains, can tell you.
Mr. Iroy's suspicious took a different
Nirection; they pointed along the line o.
ctr ln1 10 Zltaa M frio frC
Discreetly silent as to the turn which hi
thoughts had taken he merely expressed
himself as feeling too much surprise 10 otfel
any opinion at all.
'Wait little" said Lady Lydiard; g
l%en't done surprising you yet You have
seen boy here in pages livery, think
Well, ne is good boy, and he has gone homt
for a weeks holiday with his friends. Tit
proper person TO supply his place with thu
boots and shoes and other small employment
q is, of course, the youngest footnan, a lad o
n only a few years older than himself. Wha
do you think Moody does? Engages a stranger
with the house full of idle men servants al
Eeady, to fill the pages place. At interval
us morning heard them wonderfully merr.
| Inc servants hall-so merry that the nois
- laughter found its way up stairs to tn
a. Yeakfast room. like my servants to be il
good spirits, but it certainly did strike m
4 that they were getting beyond REASONABLE
limits. questioned my maid, and was in
formed that the noise was all due to the joke
az the stranGest old man that ever was seen
In other words, TO the person whom m,
steward had taken it on himself to engage il
the pages absence. l spoke to Moody on tn
= subject He answered in an odd, confusej
way, that he had exercised his discretion t
the best of his judgment, and that df
wished it) he would tell the old man to kee
his good spirits under better control
asked him how he came to hear of the man
He only answered, BY accident, my lady
and not one word more could | get out G
Ahim, good or bad. Moody engages the sci
+ wants. as you know; but on every other occe
sion he has invariably consulted me befor
an engagement was settled l really don
feel at all sure about this person who ha
been so strangely introduced into the house
he may be drunkard or thief. | wis
you would speak to Moody yourself MI
Troy Do you mind ringing the bellp
- Mr.. Troy rose, as matter of course, an
rang the bell
AZ He was by this time, it is needless to say
convinced that Moody had not only gon
back to consult Old Sharon ON his own T,
sponsibility, but, worse still, had taken III
unwarrantable liberty of introducing him 6
a spy into the house. To communicate tn
explanation to Lady Lydiard would, in ht
present humor, be simply to produce the di
missal of the steward from her service II
only other alternative was to ask leave
1lterrogate Moody privately, and, afte
dtly reproving him, to insist on the departul
of Old Sharon as the one condition ON whic
Mr.. Troy would consent to keep Lady LydiaI
in ignorance of the truth
81 think shall manage better with Mood
if your ladyship will permit me to see him
private" the lawyer said. "Shall go dow
Stairs and speak to him in his own roomp
"Why should you trouble yourself to
thatg' said her ladyship. ''See him her
and | will 90 into the boudoir"
As she made that reply the footman a
peared at the drawing room door
''Send Moody here, said Lady Lydiard.
The footman's answer, delivered at tn
moment, assumed an Importance which W
not expressed in the footman's words. IN
lady, he said, "Mr Moody has gone out"
CHAPTER XIII
While the strange proceedings of the ste
ard Mern the Snhiect of conversation hetzya.